Officials May Move To End 'Tuition Roulette'

A commission on higher education appointed by Governor Spitzer is poised to recommend that state lawmakers institute a new financing program under which public universities would institute a series of modest tuition hikes over the next five years and put an end to what university officials have called a dangerous game of "tuition roulette." Extra dollars from tuition hikes would pay for at least 1,500 new full-time faculty positions at CUNY and SUNY, officials said.

The plan, known as the Compact, depends on the state funding mandatory costs such as building rentals and infrastructure needs. The Compact is expected to create an incentive for alumni and foundations to donate to the schools, as they would know their dollars will be earmarked to boost academic programs.

"Fundamentally, the Compact is a business plan which ensures that public higher education in New York will be competitive with the rest of the country and the rest of the world," a vice chancellor at CUNY, Jay Hershenson, said.

The boards of trustees at CUNY and SUNY earlier this week also voted to implement a 5% increase in tuition next year. The hike would raise annual tuition at SUNY schools to $4,570, and tuition at CUNY's senior colleges to $4,200.

Students eligible for financial aid through New York's Tuition Assistance Program would not be affected by the hike, which would increase tuition by between $70 and $110 a semester.

State lawmakers, who will vote on the tuition hike next spring, last year vetoed a 2.5% tuition increase approved by CUNY's boards of trustees.

In the past, New York's public universities have instituted large tuition hikes irregularly, most often during economic downturns when students could least afford to pay more for college.

SUNY last raised the cost of tuition in 2003, following an eight-year tuition freeze, by 28%.

SUNY is also requesting close to $100 million in support from the state for undergraduate programs, $40 million for its teaching hospitals, $818 million for residence halls, and $1.3 billion for capital construction at community colleges.

The commission is expected to announce its recommendations on Saturday.